Cocaine Bear was inspired by a real event that took place in 1985, but the events in the movie are actually nothing like what happened in the real-life story. As a matter of fact, the real story was much more tragic and didn’t involve many of the entertaining moments that the film portrayed. Directed by Elizabeth Banks, Cocaine Bear tells the story of a drug smuggler parachuting from a plane with bags full of cocaine. However, he knocks himself unconscious and falls to his death. Soon, a bear finds the bags and, after consuming the cocaine, goes on a killing spree.

The movie is mostly played as a horror-comedy, with the bear killing everyone it comes across as the drug dealers associates set out to find the drugs and a park ranger ends up having to save hikers in the area. While it all seems absurd, it is based on a true story, although the park ranger, the drug dealers, and the rampaging bear were all fictional additions to make the film more entertaining. However, the setup to the story and the actual bear really did exist.

What Was The Inspiration For Cocaine Bear?

There Was A Bear That Died From Consuming Cocaine

In 1985, a convicted drug smuggler named Andrew Thornton was trying to escape capture and parachuted out of a plane, only to die when he hit the ground, leaving the bags of cocaine in the woods for a bear to find. According to the theories, Thornton had 880 pounds of cocaine and thought the feds were closing in on him. He tossed some of it from the plane and parachuted with the rest.

Thornton’s body was found in a driveway in Knoxville, Tennessee. He was wearing Gucci loafers and a bulletproof vest and had around $15 million worth of cocaine strapped to his body. However, the story became even more interesting when park rangers found a 175-pound black bear dead of a cocaine overdose three months later. This bear was discovered in Chattahoochee National Forest and autopsies showed it had four grams of cocaine in its bloodstream, although it was believed it ate more before its death (via The New York Times).

“The cocaine was apparently dropped from a plane piloted by Andrew Thornton, a convicted drug smuggler who died Sept. 11 in Knoxville, Tenn., because he was carrying too heavy a load while parachuting. The bureau said the bear was found Friday in northern Georgia among 40 opened plastic containers with traces of cocaine.”

What Parts Of Cocaine Bear Came From The Real Story?

The Drug Drop & The Bear Consuming Cocaine Was All That Was Real

The biggest thing that came out of the real story that made it into the Cocaine Bear movie was the setup. The tale of how Andrew Thornton had a parachute mishap while trying to possibly escape from the feds and died while losing all the cocaine was the one real part of the story. His body landing in someone’s driveway was also added to the movie as a real-life event. However, everything with the bear was made up, although director Elizabeth Banks said this gave her an opportunity to tell the bear’s story (via Variety).

“I really felt like this is so fu**ed up that this bear got dragged into this drug run gone bad and ends up dead. I felt like this movie could be that bear’s revenge story.”

What Was Changed From The Real Events?

The Bear Never Killed Anyone In Real Life

The biggest changes from the real-life events to the Cocaine Bear movie were the bloodshed and rampaging bear. In the film, the bear began to kill people in a drug-induced stupor. Instead, in real life, the bear was found dead a few months later and no hikers, mobsters, or park rangers died in its path of destruction. With that said, screenwriter Jimmy Warden itted that he wrote the movie based on his “twisted fantasy of what I wish actually happened after the bear did all that cocaine” (via Variety).

Sadly, there was one other major change to the story as well. In the movie, the bear and her cubs lived on, still dipping into the cocaine after killing the mobsters and drug dealers. In real life, the bear died, which made this film a fantasy where the real-life bear lived and got revenge.

What Happened To The Other Duffel Bags?

The Bear Destroyed The Duffle Bags In Real Life

Luckily, it seems that other bears and wildlife creatures were saved from that black bear’s fate, as the feds and park rangers located most, if not all of the dropped duffle bags of cocaine. There were the bags attached to the dead body of Andrew Thornton that police recovered when his body fell into someone’s driveway in Tennessee. Furthermore, in 1985, investigators found the rest of the ripped-up remnants of cocaine packages in Georgia's Chattahoochee-Oconee National Forest when they found the bear (via Entertainment Weekly).

"The bear got to it before we could, and he tore the duffel bag open, got him some cocaine and OD'd (overdosed)," Gary Garner of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation said (via AP). "There's nothing left but bones and a big hide. There isn’t a mammal on the planet that could survive that.”

Where Are The People Involved Now?

Both Andrew Thornton & The Bear Are Dead

There is no one in the Cocaine Bear movie that is based on anyone in real life, outside of the parachuter representing Andrew Thornton. The hapless drug dealer was an American narcotics officer, lawyer, and alleged gang leader. According to reports, he picked up the drugs on a smuggling run from Columbia. After dropping part of the duffle bags, he set the plan on autopilot and then parachuted out to his death.

As for the bear itself, The Kentucky for Kentucky Fun Mall in Lexington claims it has a taxidermized bear on display that is the Cocaine Bear, which was also nicknamed Pablo Escobear (via Washington Post). The mall claims that Waylon Jennings owned the taxidermized bear before they took ownership of it, although Shooter Jennings said his dad never really owned it. In the end, the bear from Cocaine Bear is more famous than the man who dropped the cocaine to begin with.